Upper Deck brings up their second volume of the Secret Wars expansion for the Legendary Marvel Deck-Building Series. I was excited with the addition of several of my current favorite characters like Silk, Spider-Gwen and Time-Traveling Jean Grey. As well as the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool, making appearances in several decks. Secret Wars volume 2 takes us further into the current Marvel Comic story line. Here is my attempt at summarizing the Secret Wars story line, for additional information on it please read the comics. All of the different Marvel Universes have collided and been destroyed. At the last moment Dr. Doom takes parts of each universe and creates a new world and becomes it's god. Most characters have no knowledge of their past lives but a few that sneak through. This craziness has allowed us to see beloved characters with new pasts and fresh takes. For example, what if Dr. Strange and The Punisher were one person. In this story line and game we have Dr. Punisher, the Solider Supreme. Secret Wars volume 2 makes the combinations of heroes even more varied and interesting.

ComponentsSecret Wars volume 2 adds 16 new heroes, 3 new henchmen groups, 6 new villain groups, and 4 new masterminds. This is a lot of new stuff to keep your game of Legendary fresh. Upper Deck continues to improve the look of the art on the cards. This set had some of my favorite art to date for the series. My only issue is that if you are like me and have all the entries in the Legendary Marvel series , you have experienced the inability to store everything in one box. We really need an expansion that provides a box to store everything currently available and future expansions, as well as dividers that named for easy sorting and picking. A great example of this is the Smash Up! Big Geeky Box expansion. If Upper Deck made something like that I am sure it would sell like tacos with nacho cheese on them (That is a very tasty good thing).

What is new? Besides all the new characters, Secret Wars volume 2 adds or expands on a few mechanics. Circle of Kung-Fu (and Quack-Fu) is a new keyword that means you reveal a card costing “X”. X is the number in front of the Circle of Kung-Fu. If you can not reveal a card of that cost or more, the villain receives X much additional attack value that turn. For example, a villain has the 5th Circle of Kung-Fu. You can not reveal a card costing 5 or greater. Therefore the villain adds +5 to his attack for that turn.

Some villain cards have Fateful Resurrection written as a keyword on them. This means when you fight that villain you will reveal the top card of the villain deck. If the card is a scheme twist or master strike, that villain will reenter the city at the sewers. If you reveal any other card, then the villain is added to your victory pile. Another new villain ability is Ambush: Charge X spaces. When this new villain enters play he will start at the sewers and then move X spaces. This pushes all current cards forward and possibly escape the city. This can be very devastating depending on the scheme.

So with all these new villain tricks what did our heroes get? Heroes get two new keywords. Spectrum means revealing that you have at least 3 hero class icons (Strength, Instinct, Covert, Tech, Ranged) in your hand. Cards in your hand or already in play both count towards this criteria. If you meet the criteria you will be given a special ability like drawing a card or adding an additional attack damage. The other ability is Patrol of a specific city space. If the space is empty you may get a certain ability , or if it is occupied you may get a different ability like +2 attack.

Secret Wars volume 2 also expands many other mechanics from previous expansions. Secret Wars volume 1 introduced a player controlling the mastermind. Secret Wars volume 2 adds 10 new ambition cards to help out players controlling the mastermind.

Final ThoughtsI previously only played Legendary with 4 other people and grew frustrated at being defeated so fast. While playing with Secret Wars volume 2 I finally had the opportunity of playing it with 3 players instead of my usual 5. We actually won but more importantly we had a ton of fun and wanted to play more. The game was still challenging but we felt we had a chance. The reason I explained this before I got into what I thought of this specific expansion is to show how my opinion on the game overall changed and I am sure there are more like me that have been frustrated and only played high player count games.

Onto Secret Wars volume 2. I really enjoyed this expansion. Most of the characters were ones I was hoping would get added, while also giving us a few heroes that have a new take on them that makes them completely different. I will always enjoy new characters over variant characters but felt there was a good balance in this expansion. The new villains and masterminds can be vicious but are not overpowered. There was a card or 2 that I felt might have been overpriced for what it brings to the deck. Those are very minor gripes in what ends up being a great addition to the Legendary Marvel series. If you like Marvel Comics or Deck-Building games then please try this series out. You will not be disappointed. If you were like me and had only played high player count games and felt frustrated at the difficulty, I ask that you give it another try at a lower player count. You may find it very enjoyable especially with the new characters and their dual hero class icons. Doing so completely changed my opinion of this game and now want to play it regularly. Secret Wars volume 2 added a lot of new fun in a already deep line-up. I highly recommend this expansion and it will stay in my collection.

- Storage is becoming a huge issue-7th circle of Kung-Fu is very challenging to beat- Unbalanced 5 player games- Ambush: Charge can be very punishing with no way to defend against- Jean Grey card that is a little overpriced